Technical Apprentice Review

My day looks different depending on what project I'm working on. Generally tasks will be assigned based on tickets that are in the sprint. I'll usually work on this with support available from other team members. There is a daily meeting to report on progress, however usually I will be in contact with people throughout the day to help me solve issues. The only downside is that sometimes it's hard to take part in more complex tasks because they require more support from others and sometimes people don't have time for that. In the last few months I've been able to take up some exciting networking opportunities, which I wouldn't have had without this job.

I have learnt a lot about interacting with different people, how to operate in a corporate environment and developed my technical skills a lot. I would sometimes appreciate the opportunity to develop more technical skills, specifically those related to my degree. A lot of the technical skills I've developed are software based.

My apprenticeship is very full on. I often struggle with getting everything done, doing a uni degree as well as a full time job it very intense and you don't get much free time. I really enjoy my job and when I'm at university I enjoy learning about most of the topics, however the lack of time to complete assignments makes the whole thing really hard and has caused a lot of tears. If I were to drop out it would be because of the struggle with the lack of time.

Previously there has not been enough communication between the university and my employer. It has got better since my manager has pushed for regular meetings, however the course just isn't set up well to cater to people with full time jobs, especially my kind of job. I think a different course would be better suited. When I've been at university they haven't even had rooms organised properly for us. I enjoy my work but the type of work I do does not back up the learning I do at university which makes it hard to hit competencies.

Everyone around me at work is very supportive, however there's only so much certain people can do. The main thing that would help would be to have more time to work on assignments, however we're not likely to get the budget for this which is disappointing. It's also sometimes hard to get support with university work purely because uni work is cyber security based and most people at work don't have experience in this area.

I have regular learner review meetings with the university. I rely more on my employer for support than the university.

So far, doing my degree has improved things like my academic writing, ability to do research and to follow a brief. Unfortunately there aren't many opportunities to use technical skills I learn at university within my role as a technical apprentice because the work we do isn't usually very cyber based.

Yes, there are professional networking events and social events with a variety of different people.

Yes

Although doing an apprenticeship is really hard, I love my job and the people I work with and I think the stress will be worth it once my degree is done.

If you've got evidence of your technical knowledge (for example A levels/ a level 3 qualification) have confidence in that and let your personality come through.